Georges St-Pierre Offers Theory On Why UFC Didn’t Book Khabib Fight
Georges St-Pierre believes the UFC doesn’t want him to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov because the lightweight champion is a “significant investment” for them.
“GSP” officially retired earlier this year after talk of a potential fight with Nurmagomedov eventually fell through. St-Pierre claimed that was the main reason he decided to call it a day.
And while he isn’t completely ruling out a return, the former welterweight champion doesn’t see anything else that interests him:
“I am retired,” St-Pierre said in a recent interview (via MMA Fighting). “I retired because I didn’t want to go back and do the same thing over and over again. Taking a fight takes a lot out of me because I’m very proud so when I perform I have to do it the best I can and the result matters very much for me. So it takes a lot of stress on me. I didn’t want to take another training camp of two-three months – maybe six months with the whole building up with the promotion and everything – out of my life to fight another guy that I don’t have nothing to gain in terms of legacy.
“If I fight someone and I take six months of my life to focus on it . . . I would need that to be worth it to me. Not only money-wise but legacy wise and satisfaction wise. That’s why I wanted to fight Khabib because I could have lost big but at least I could have win big.
“If I ever come back, it’s not impossible but right now I don’t see nothing. The UFC refuse a fight with Khabib and I and there’s nothing that really excites me.”
Most would assume the UFC would be interested in a St-Pierre vs. Nurmagomedov fight as it would certainly be a lucrative affair. However, “Rush” believes the promotion’s plans for Nurmagomedov would be scuppered if he delivered the first loss of his career:
“It makes sense in a way,” GSP explained. “My agent explained it to me like, maybe he [Nurmagomedov] represents a significant investment for UFC. He reaches a different type of clientele, from the Middle East, the Muslim world idolizing him. He’s an icon.
“Imagine that they invest a lot of money to promote a big fight between Khabib and I and I win the fight. [Wipes hands and smiles]. I’m out. I’m not interested in signing a fight with Khabib and guarantee them that I want to go back and fight another contender.”
What do you think of St-Pierre’s comments?
